About
AT A GLANCE:
Senior Fellow at the George H. W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations; Associate-in-Research
at Harvard University's Asia Center.
RESEARCH AREAS:
- U.S.-China Strategic Competition
- Nuclear Deterrence (The "Three-Body" Problem)
- North Korea & Korean Peninsula Security
- The "CRINK" Axis (China-Russia-Iran-North Korea)
- Indo-Pacific Security Architecture
BIOGRAPHY:
Dr. Seong-Hyon Lee is a geopolitical strategist and scholar specializing in U.S.-China
relations and Northeast Asian security. He currently serves as a Senior Fellow at
the George H. W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations and as an Associate-in-Research
at Harvard University's Asia Center.
Dr. Lee is distinguished by his rare "insider" perspective on East Asian elite politics, grounded in 11 years of living in Beijing. He received his Ph.D. from Tsinghua University—the alma mater of President Xi Jinping—where he was the sole international student in his doctoral cohort. His analysis is further informed by extensive field experience, including covering the Six-Party Talks, where he closely observed key North Korean negotiators, including current Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui.
His current research focuses on the shifting geometry of global deterrence, particularly the "Three-Body" nuclear dynamics between the United States, China, and Russia, and the emerging "CRINK" (China-Russia-Iran-North Korea) axis. He is the author of The New Cold War: U.S.-China Rivalry and the Future of Global Power (2025).
Previously, Dr. Lee served as Director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the Sejong Institute in Seoul. A frequent advisor to senior decision-makers, he has briefed U.S. Congressional delegations, INDOPACOM leadership, and top-level diplomats on crisis stability and alliance management in the Indo-Pacific.
PUBLICATIONS:
Books:
The New Cold War: U.S.-China Rivalry and the Future of Global Power (Wiseberry, 2025).
[Sejong Book Selection]
Link: https://ebook-product.kyobobook.co.kr/dig/epd/ebook/E000011473279
Zhou Enlai: A Life (Korean Translation, Harvard University Press (2024), January 2026).
Link: https://product.kyobobook.co.kr/detail/S000219004857
South Korean Diplomacy at a Turning Point in the International Order (2024).
Link: https://ebook-product.kyobobook.co.kr/dig/epd/ebook/E000007149259
U.S.–China War: The Victor and the Future World Order (2019).
Link: https://ebook-product.kyobobook.co.kr/dig/epd/ebook/E000002948070
Selected Policy Analysis:
"The Three-Body Trap: The New Geometry of Nuclear Deterrence," GNSI Decision Brief
Link: https://www.usf.edu/gnsi/publications/decision-briefs/decision-brief-40-three-body-problem-interactive.pdf
"Zhang Youxia: The Fallen General," The Interpreter (Lowy Institute, 2026).
Link: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/zhang-youxia-fallen-general
"PRC–Russia–DPRK Relations Grow Closer," China Brief (The Jamestown Foundation, 2025). Link: https://jamestown.org/prc-russia-dprk-relations-grow-closer/
"China's Leader Is on a Grandiose Mission to Revitalize Socialism," Barron's (2022).
Link: https://www.barrons.com/articles/xi-third-term-china-socialism-51665165452
Selected Academic Articles:
"U.S. Semiconductor Policy and South Korea: A Delicate Balancing Act," Asia Policy (2023). Link: https://www.nbr.org/publication/u-s-semiconductor-policy-and-south-korea-a-delicate-balancing-act-between-national-priorities-and-international-collaboration/
"Where Is Washington? The Missing Mediator between Seoul and Tokyo," The Washington
Quarterly (2019).
Link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0163660X.2019.1593767
"China-North Korea Relations under U.S.-China Geopolitical Rivalry," Journal of International
Politics (2020).
Link: https://www.kci.go.kr/kciportal/ci/sereArticleSearch/ciSereArtiView.kci?sereArticleSearchBean.artiId=ART002656194
"Seoul's Up-and-Down Romance with China amid U.S.-China Rivalry," China Report (2021). Link: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00094455211023908
CONNECT / FOLLOW:
Linkedin: @seonghyonlee